The mounting concern of fire prevention officials
Authorities responsible for firefighting are increasingly concerned at the extended drought and have been expressing fears of a repeat of the terrible summer of 2000, when a lack of rain combined with high temperatures reduced 150,000 hectares to ashes. Two weeks ago, the General Secretariat for Civil Defense sent a circular to local government organizations and relevant ministries calling for early preventive measures to restrict the risk of forest fires. The Fire Brigade is getting ready for the forest fire action plan, to come into effect earlier this year, on May 1. «Current conditions favor the outbreak of forest fires,» said Lieutenant General Andreas Kois, head of the Greek Fire Brigade. «If the situation does not change and the drought continues, and if there are high temperatures and strong winds, the problem will be more serious,» he added. Similar fears were expressed by Panayiotis Fourlas, general secretary for Civil Defense. «Experience tells us that we will have a difficult summer ahead. It has been observed that winters with little snow or rain are usually followed by catastrophic fires, mostly in mountain regions considered low risk,» said Fourlas. In the summer of 2000, when unusually high temperatures were recorded throughout Europe, along with low rainfall, forest fires destroyed 154,000 hectares in Greece and 630,000 in the whole of southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Greece). «Fires usually break out up to an altitude of 600 meters and in areas characterized as high risk,» said Fourlas. «In 2000, the drought led to fires in low-risk areas and above 1,000 meters. In Aghia Marina, Epirus, 2,500 hectares were burnt and seven people lost their lives. Mt Mainalon and Mt Taygetos were also struck by forest fires; these are not high-risk areas and do not even have basic firefighting infrastructure, such as forest roads that provide access for firefighting vehicles.» According to information from the European Commission, 2003 was another difficult year when temperatures reached two degrees above the average for 1901-1995. In that year, 740,000 hectares of forest were burnt throughout southern Europe. The head of the Panhellenic Union of Foresters, Fotis Fasoulas, says fires are a feature of Mediterranean ecosystems, but this year the drought is particularly intense due to the lack of rain, so the risk of catastrophic fires is even greater. «To avoid the worst, we have to take immediate steps to manage forests,» he said.
